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/59 



HIAWATHA: 



THE STORY OF THE IROQUOIS SAGE 



IN PROSE AND VERSE. 





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NEW YORK: 

ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & CO. 

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PREFACE. 



In presenting the following observations and verses, the 
writer does not desire to appear as either a critic or a 
poet,; the object being rather to indicate the belief 
that a new *' Hiawatha" is among the possibilities of 
the future, a conviction which is offered in connection 
with a rhymed version of the Story of Hiawatha, as given 
in prose by a descendant of the Red Men skilled in the 
traditions of his race. The observations are presented in . 
the way of helpful suggestions ; while the verses, for which 
no merit is claimed, may at least add some interest to this 
brochure. 

New York, 1873. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



The Red Man in North America has alternately been the vic- 
tim of the poet and the politician. The wrongs suffered through 
the emissaries of the State may be of a more vital character than 
those inflicted by the Muse, yet they cannot be more real ; for it 
has been the custom of the poet to clothe the Red Man in a 
histrionic garb, and invest him with exaggerated action. In 
literature he has, therefore, on the whole, had more than his due. 
The " Noble " overshadows the '* Poor Indian.*' Still there have 
been exceptions to the general rule, and thus a great character 
has occasionally been allowed to stand far below the true level. 
This, perhaps, has been the case with Hiawatha, the Sage of the 
Iroquois. 

In saying this, however, I have no desire to reflect upon 
the course adopted by the author of the beautiful poem of 
" Hiawatha." His representations are, in the main, founded on 
Indian traditions. He has drawn the character of Hiawatha as 
the Red Men themselves have often represented it. Besides, he 
had a perfect right to choose his own point of observation. The 
liberty that the circumstances of the case afford has not been 
abused. He has simply selected those aspects best adapted for 
pictorial effect. Yet while this is an age in which we are ac- 
customed to view a story on its most winning side, we are 
nevertheless entitled to the right of independent judgment, and 



INTRODUCTORY. 

to the use of the same liberty as is accorded to the Poet, in an 
effort to present what appears to be a more probable view of the 
history of the great Iroquois Chief. 

At a time like the present, it may appear a somewhat unprom- 
ising task to present Hiawatha as anything like a historic person, 
or seek to preserve the name from the atmosphere of grotesque 
fable. Yet this, perhaps, is a task that might be undertaken ; 
for w^hen we remember how easily, with the lapse of time, an 
individual, even in civilized society, becomes invested with an 
air of romance, we shall hardly feel inclined to question the ex- 
istence of the tendency among rude and uncivilized tribes. 

It has already been remarked that Mr. Longfellow was per- 
fectly justified in presenting that view of the Indian Sage which 
he has given in his poem; still it will perhaps prove interesting 
to employ our liberty in making a brief comparison of the Indian 
who appears on his page with the Indian found among the better 
class of Algic traditions ; that is, a comparison of Hiawatha 
as his character is popularly conceived, and Hiawatha as he 
possibly was. 

How, then, does the character of Hiawatha appear in the 
poem of Mr. Longfellow^ ? 

First, however, let us hear what Mr. Schoolcraft says of the 
sources of the poet's information. 

In speaking of the legends upon which Mr. Longfellow has 
relied, the historian says, in substance, that they represent Hia- 
watha on the whole, as an impersonation of evil. The evil is 
not, indeed, without mitigation, yet the essential badness of 
Hiawatha is combined with low cunning, ineffable weakness, 

6 



INTRODUCTORY. 

and the paltriest ambition. Consequently we find that the char- 
acter which the poet represents, continually reminds us of its 
origin. Certain qualities may be depressed, and some may be 
exaggerated, while others may be left out altogether, and yet the 
feeble trickster is always there, holding himself up to view amid 
all the affluence of rhythm and imagery and art, as a compound 
of opposite and often contemptible qualities. This, once more 
let it be remembered, I state, not as a fault, but as difact 

I might, perhaps, have been told at the outset that similar 
characters abound everywhere in history. There, for instance, 
is Josheka of the Algonquins ; who finds a parallel, in turn, 
among the mythical creations of the distant South. Why not, 
then, place the story of Hiawatha with his ? To this it may be 
replied that, while found among them, it is not of them. The 
story of Hiawatha evidently belongs to a more modern age, and 
is not by any means to be properly included in the class of 
myths at all. The story is essentially of the nature of a legend. 
It does not deal with a quality. It sets forth no trancendental 
truth. It rather tells the story of a life, and gives, seemingly, 
amid all its wild exaggerations, a modicum of historic truth. Let 
us, therefore, endeavor to make this more apparent. 

In dealing with the native tribes of America, the historian has 
generally given almost exclusive prominence to the two branches 
that so strongly established themselves in Mexico and Peru. 
And yet the famous Confederacy of the Iroquois or Five Nations, 
was established not more than one or two centuries after the 
Mexican and Peruvian monarchies, and is quite as worthy, 
in many respects, of high consideration. Especially does this 

7 



INTRODUCTORY. 

appear to be the case in connection with the present subject, for 
the reason that this Confederacy of the Iroquois was founded 
through the agency of Hiawatha, a fact that Mr. Longfellow's 
poem does not set forth. This brings the hero within compara- 
tively modern times, somewhere near the thirteenth century. 

Until about this period the five nations composing the league 
were widely scattered over large portions of the country. But 
an invasion from the north led them, under the guidance of 
Hiawatha, to unite for the extirpation of the common foe. The 
League of the Iroquois was fashioned after the Greek Amphic- 
tyonic League, and while the union was real and practical, each 
of the five banded tribes was left with its separate and sovereign 
right. And so conscious were the Indian leaders of the wisdom 
and advantages of their system, that in the year 1774, they 
gravely urged it upon the representatives of the Colonies for the 
acceptance of the American people. Republicanism did not 
begin with Greece, nor was it the exclusive issue of the Ameri- 
can Revolution. The white man may be slow to recognize the 
fact, yet it is nevertheless not too much to affirm, that essential 
republicanism in this country began with the League of the Five 
Nations, who were taught the advantages of the system by Hia- 
watha ; all of which is worthy of finding expression in a pecu- 
liarly American poem. 

What we may call the historic character of Hiawatha forms a 
distinct point which the writer desires to present and keep in 
view ; and yet there is the separate inquiry, namely, whether we 
have ground for claiming a loftier character for Hiawatha, and 



INTRODUCTORY. 

one everyway more dignified and pure, than the conception now 
before the people. 

The eccentric Thoreau used sometimes to wonder what it was 
in the character of Christ that made a certain bishop so bigoted. 
But Thoreau was not sure of his fact. There was not anything 
in the great heart of the Galilean to make a man bigoted. We 
may nevertheless inquire what there was in the character of Hia- 
watha to secure the Red Man's universal veneration. They cer- 
tainly paid no respect to a quality under the form of a person, 
and therefore are we at liberty to infer that it was the person 
himself, in whom certain great qualities were found. 

The versions of the Indian legend which has heretofore been 
followed come from every quarter of North America, and are 
marked by all that is puerile, extravagant and ridiculous ; yet we 
have another version which is the peculiar product of the Iroquois 
mind, and therefore characterized by the same degree of supe- 
riority that must be confessed as attending the thoughts of the 
people of that Confederacy. This version of the story of Hia- 
watha is free from all that is low, puerile, sensual and absurd, 
and commands respect by its dignity, consistency and general 
effect. The style of the narrative is comprehensive, the contents 
brief, and thus the story is soon told. 

From a consideration of the facts of the case, it would seem, 
therefore, as if there were room for a new Hiawatha. Yet when 
Hiawatha comes he must not be too historical. He must speak 
to us a long way off. His voice must come sounding down from 
distant times. Here, then, might be suggested a substantial 
improvement on the present Hiawatha, where we have the 

9 



INTRODUCTORY. 

Jesuits introduced without authority, and where they appear 
almost as inappropriate as a band of Pilgrim Fathers in one of 
the Books of Virgil. As Longfellow's Hiawatha is about to 
ascend to heaven, we read : 

•• From the distant Land of Wabun, 
From the farthest realm of morning, 
Came the Black-Robe chief the Prophet, 
He the Priest of Prayer, the Pale face. 
With his guides and his companions. 

"And the nol)le Hiawatha, 
With his hands aloft extended. 
Held aloft in sign of welcome, 
Waited, full of exultation. 
Till the birch canoe with paddles 
Grated on the shining pebbles, 
Stranded on the sandy margin. 
Till the Black- Robe chief, the Pale face 
With the cross upon his bosom, 
Landed on the sandy margin." 

This certainly is an anachronism, the flavor being too modern. 
The statement of Mr. Schoolcraft has been cited where he 
claims that the legend followed by Mr. Longfellow represents 
Hiawatha largely as an embodiment of evil. And the Iroquois 
chief does not escape this taint even in passing through the 
alembic of the Poet. At the same time his positive religious 
character is everyway overstated. Hiawatha " fasting " in Long- 
fellow's pages is one thing, and Hiawatha fasting in the legend is 
quite another. In the one case he is rigidly devout, and in the 

ID 



INTRODUCTORY. 

Other he is overflowing with characteristic mischief and fun, steal- 
ing jovially away from his secluded praying lodge, to watch his 
grandmother, who surreptitiously, in his absence from home, en- 
tertains a huge black bear. The legend para[)hrased in the 
verses that follow this introduction do not treat of that matter at 
all. 

In the Iroquois legend used in the present case, we look in 
vain for anything that essentially detracts from his dignity, 
goodness and worth ; and, at the same time, the legend is free 
from anachronisms. Hiawatha does not enter into the thoughts 
of the seventeenth century, when the Jesuit roamed the Ameri- 
can woods, and bought at any price the privilege of sending 
an Indian child to heaven with a drop of dew. The date of 
Hiawatha's death is synchronous with the perfect establishment 
of the Iroquois League, which had already arrived at the height 
of its glory, and was the dominant Indian power on the North 
American continent before the white man encroached upon the 
soil. The Iroquois tradition, indeed, confounds Hiawatha with 
the more uncertain Tarenyawago, yet he soon emerges in the 
narrative with a new name, and appears l)efore the antiquary, as 
he probably was, bearing a lofty, consistent character, shedding 
equal lustre upon himself and upon the fortunes of his tribe. 
Such a character hardly deserves to be buried under the debris 
of ridiculous fable, or stand in the rank with Yennadizze the Idle. 
The Indian annals show only one such comprehensive and 
beneficent character, and, tliLM'cforc, why not let the Red Man 
dnjoy its benefit? 

It may indeed l)e said that the character of Hiawatha, even as 

II 



INTRODUCTORY. 

given by the Iroquois, is unreal ; yet it should be remembered 
that a thirteenth-century myth could not well found a govern- 
ment, or administer laws. There must have been somewhere 
a powerful organizing mind — a real personality ; for the work 
done was both permanent and great. All this implies a great 
worker. And may not that worker have been Hiawatha ? 

The conception of Hiawatha embodied in the following lines, 
is therefore offered as more consistent and dignified than that 
popularly entertained, and which makes the heaven-born Hia- 
watha appear contemptible, by reducing him, without reason, to 
all the ordinary straits of the Red Man, and leads him to desire 
conflicts he cannot support and dangers before which he quails. 
In the Iroquois version, the character of Hiawatha and the inci- 
dents of his life are always invested with unity and dignity. He 
never appears childish, but always bears himself with the aspect 
and temper of the sage. Indeed, the character is drawn so true 
to nature, that we ai*e led to the conclusion that such a person of 
Hiawatha once lived, and that his course as a public teacher 
and benefactor in the after times led the Five Nations to in- 
vest him with supernatural wisdom and power, and to assign 
him a fitting end. Thus it was with the Northman's Odin, 
who, after dying in his bed, like an ordinary mortal, was 
nevertheless, in course of time, invested with the character 
and attributes of a god. And it is probable that Hiawatha was 
no more a myth than Odin, but that both were historical charac- 
ters ; Indian tradition having left the latter elevated high above 
the common walks of life, as given, beyond the ordinary race 
of mortals, to wise, heroic and beneficent deeds. Those persons 

12 



INTRODUCTORY. 

inclined to doubt this, should endeavor to tell us who it was 
that formed the American Amphictyonic League ; who gave the 
Iroquois legislation and laws ; who, by the power of his genius, 
banded the Five Nations into one ; and who, by the force of 
his example and the purity of his precepts, cemented the 
great fabric which stood for many generations in the heart of 
America as a refuge for those people not exactly included 
within the League, but who, nevertheless, as history declares, 
found it as refreshing in their day as the shadow of a great 
rock in a weary land. 



13 



HIAWATHA 



HIAWATHA. 

Tarenyawago, from the West Wind sprung, 

Revered in Council and in story sung, 

A chief to Manitou allied by birth. 

With his approval once appeared on earth, 

To guide the Red Man by his counsels wise, 

And ope the passage to immortal skies : 

Hear, then, the story of the Wind-born^ Sage, 

The wondrous prophet of a distant age. 

As told in wigwams on Tioga's shore 

By ancient chieftains of the Iroquois. 

The Benefactor. 

Tarenyawago, through that North-land wide, 

Whose woods and waters were the Red Man's pride, 

Taught useful knowledge, and each cunning cure 

That simples furnish or deep spells assure ; 

Showed how to foster the green-springing corn, 
i6 



HIAWATHA. 

And beans bright-blossomed that the fields adorn, 

Where gourds grew portly all the summer day, 

And juicy melons in the sunshine lay. 

The bubbling fountains he revealed with skill, 

Deep dredged each streamlet, and explored each rill. 

Made roomy passage for the finny tribe, 

Then easy taken by the fisher's bribe ; 

Slew furious monsters that o'er ran the land, 

And thus gave safety to each roving band. 

In wisdom, equal to his wondrous strength, 

The race revered him through the land's great length, 

And chiefs, who listened to his wholesome speech, 

Oft foremost stations in the tribes would reach. 

Tarenyawago also kindly gave 

Alike to chieftain and to common brave. 

Much deep instruction in the simple law 

Reveal'd by Manitou for Iroquois. 

The Magic Canoe,, 
Where'er he journeyed, his light-built canoe, 
In swift obedience without paddle flew ; 
17 



HIAWATHA. 

His wish propelled it up the tugging stream, 
And drove it onward where the rapids gleam, 
To breast the eddies 'neath the granite wall, 
To skim the surges, or to leap the fall. 
On land, the birch-boat was obedient still, 
And felt the magic of his wondrous will ; 
For at his bidding it quick rose to bear 
Its mystic master on the trembling air, 
And thus he darted through the sunny sky. 
Where dizzy mountains in the haze rush by. 
And over valleys clad in robes of green. 
Which rivers broider with their silver sheen. 

Retire^nent, 

Tarenyawago, when his work was done, 

The people being to his teachings won. 

Next laid the office of a seer aside. 

Though sounding plaudits fill the North-land wide. 

And seeks in private his short day to spend, 

Until, predestined, his career should end : 
i8 



HIAWATHA. 

For, with the precept, it is his to give 

A life that teaches how the just should hve. 

Hiawatha at Home, 

His home, well-ordered, on Tioga*s bank, 
In style adapted to the humble rank, 
Which Hiawatha with his people bears. 
The usual aspect of the Red Man wears. 
Naught ever marks him from his neighbors round. 
Except his sanctity and well-tilled ground, 
Where all the husbandry that masters know 
His faultless corn-fields in their culture show. 
Yet ne'er he's wanting in the homage due. 
For chiefs divided towards Tioga drew, 
And came from regions both remote and near 
To pour their cases in his patient ear. 
Tarenyawago, him they cease to call, 
But " Hiawatha," or. Surpassing All 
In Lofty Wisdom, is the peerless name 
They give to signify his rightful fame. 
19 



HIAWATHA. 

Touched by the passion e'en immortals share, 
His heart was raptured by a maiden fair, 
And soon, thus living, knew 't would not be life 
Without this maiden for his prudent wife. 
By chaste advances, he makes known his love. 
When Kibblaneno, or the Gende Dove- 
Dissimulation and concealment tries, 
With face averted and with down-cast eyes ; 
But tell-tale blushes soon perform their part, 
When glad she nestles on her lover's heart. 

The Nuptials, 

With tender watchfulness they bear his bride 

Where stands the wigwam by Tioga's^ side. 

Adorned and furnished in becoming state 

For Hiawatha and his gentle mate. 

Three days of revels are next quickly spent, 

With mirthful dances and high feasting blent ; 

Which done, the people take their homeward way, 

And leave the lovers with each livelong day. 

Then moons, oft waning, lost their silver sheen, 
20 



HIAWATHA. 

But in the wigwam, uneclipsed, was seen 
The tender lustre of love's constant star, 
Which flitting soul-clouds had no power to mar. 

Laloona. 
The Onondagas now erelong rejoice 
To learn the wigwam knows a little voice. 
Oft Hiawatha lakes the welcome guest 
And clasps her fondly to his manly breast ; 
And, while her soft eyes view life's early dawn, 
Laloona names her, or the Little Fawn. 
Thus years of plenty roll serenely by, 
And tribes in hunting with each other vie ; 
While sweet Laloona, to a woman grown, 
For gentle beauty and high worth is known. 

The Stwimons, 

Then from the water Hiawatha drew 
His talismanic and far-famed canoe, 
Nor used it ever, save when strong desire 
Led the great Prophet to the council-fire. 



HIAWATHA. 

At last the limits of long peace drew near, 

And all the borders were deep stirred by fear ; 

For hostile warriors from the Great Cold Lake 

The southern war-path in fell fury take 

In countless numbers, and the war-whoop rose 

With vengeful fury from their ancient foes. 

While through the people spread the deep dismay, 

The leaders, anxious, took their silent way 

To Hiawatha, whom, serene, they found 

Among the corn-rows of his well-tilled ground. 

The issue stated, and his counsel sought : 

The wise man warned them not to spend for naught 

The people's courage, but united stand. 

And meet the inroads of th' invading band ; 

Hence call a council, and a compact make 

By Onondaga's deep, wide-spreading lake. 

The Assembly, 

Thus Hiawatha his wise counsel gave, 

Which, through the forest, flew from brave to brave. 

22 



HIAWATHA. 

Then quick each leader tribal aims forgot, 
And marched with ardor to the chosen spot, 
Where soon assembled a dark, bronzed crowd 
Of squaws and children and of chieftains proud, 
Thus by misfortune to the council brought, 
Each mind with projects of relief deep fraught. 
But Hiawatha to the place ne'er came, 
And expectation soon began to wane, 
When envoys, going to Tioga's wood. 
Where stayed the master in abstracted mood, 
Told the great Prophet their unfeigned desire 
To greet his presence at the council-fire. 

The yourney. 
Aroused, he enters his far-famed canoe. 
Which erst on water as on air swift flew, 
His loved Laloona at the graceful prow, — 
For ne'er he travels from Tioga now 
Without the maiden, his great people's pride, 
In whom brave chieftains vainly sought a bride. 
First, slowly moving, with the stream they drift, 
23 



HIAWATHA. 

Till near the entrance of So-ha-ri's^ rift, 

When Hiawatha, by the mystic spell. 

Whose cunning magic it obeys full well, 

His bark drove onward past the waving brake, 

And swiftly enters Onondaga's Lake. 

When seen approaching the long-circling shore, 

By murky camp smoke high dull-bannered o'er, 

The people wildly run the banks about 

And raise their voices in a joyous shout. 

The magic vessel now shoots up the strand. 

While stalwart chieftains grasp the Prophet's hand. 

And with such honor as the brave deems due 

Receive Laloona from the light canoe. 

The Bird of Fate. 

The Sage in silence toward the Council-place, 
Then walks with dignity and high born grace, 
Laloona moving with a regal mien. 
That tells the presence of the Indian Queen. 

But, scarce arriving on the moss-grown bank, 
24 



HIAWATHA. 

Where sits the Council in well-ordered rank, 
A dreadful portent soon on high appears, 
While muttered thunder smites on savage ears ; 
For, looking upward in the iair blue sky, 
A white-plumed Eagle they now clear descry, 
Which, first, a hand-breadth, next appears a cloud, 
A bird, whose pinions e'en the sunbeams shroud, 
A thing of monstrous and unseemly birth, 
Now swooping swiftly toward the verdant earth. 
Then soon pale terror strikes the tawny host. 
Whose oft-tried courage was the people's boast. 
For ranks of sachems in disorder break, 
And, flying, refuge in the deep woods take. 

The Death of La loon a. 
But Hiawatha, calm, alone stood still. 
Proud on the summit of the Council-hill,* 
His peerless daughter by his aged side. 
Prepared the issue of the hour to bide. 
Yet Fate, who never to the wisest gave 
The briefest respite, or the great and brave 
25 



HIAWATHA. 

Indulged one instant past the hapless hour, 

Stays not for Beauty his relentless power ; 

For, as the comet trails the azure sky. 

On rushing pinion the great bird draws nigh, 

And, after circling through the mid-air round. 

Smites fair Laloonato the mossy ground ! 

His beak transfixing her devoted breast, 

Swift sends her spirit to the realm of rest. 

But, see ! the Eagle, is itself laid low. 

Slain by the fury of the vengeful blow ; 

And thus, deprived of his lusty breath. 

With powerless pinions he lies stretched in death. 

The aged Prophet felt the air's dread rush. 

And saw the life-blood from his daughter gush. 

Yet, calm, he stirred not from his standing place. 

Nor moved a muscle of his bronzed face, 

But saw serenely, as becomes the brave. 

The awful judgment the Great Spirit gave. 

The Vow. 

At distance, peering from a moss-grown rock, 
26 



HIAWATHA. 

Some frightened warriors felt the fatal shock, 
And now, returning, they upheave the bird; 
But marvels cease not, and they speak no word, 
When 'neath the Eagle's white far-spreading wing, 
Which six strong warriors now could scarce upfling. 
No trace they noted of the lovely maid 
Thus strangely summoned to the land of shade. 
Then came each savage and with dreadful vow 
Pluck* d a white feather for his painted brow, 
And ever after on the war-path wore 
This dread insignia of the Iroquois.^ 

In Council. 

When all was over and the sad truth known. 

Great Hiawatha sat aside alone. 

His soul keen smarting with the cutting grief, 

For which the Prophet could find no relief. 

But, called from sorrow by the people's woes, 

Soon to the Council the great Sachem goes, 

And, clad in wolf-skin, takes the master's seat. 

Prepared the issue of the tribes to meet ; 
27 



HIAWATHA. 

Hearing each caution that the wise men gave 
With hot invective of the valliant brave. 
One day quick passes in discursive speech ; 
But when the issue on the next they reach, 
Great Hiawatha, from his lofty place, 
Slow rising, counsels with superior grace. 

Hiawatha s Speech. 

Friends, Brothers, Leaders of the valiant bands, 
Whose wigwams cover our wide-spreading lands. 
In vain you, singly, fight the dreaded foe, 
Whose coming portends a great people's woe ; 
In vain you struggle with the Northern hordes, 
While still you follow your divided lords : 
Unite your forces for the common weal, 
And thus your vengeance shall the foeman feel. 
You, warlike Mohawks, by your Tall Pine Tree,* 
The first great people in the League shall be. 
You, Brave Oneidas, 'gainst the Lasting Stone, 
Recline the second, and ne'er fight alone. 



HIAWATHA. 

You, Onondagas, by the Shelt'ring Hills, 

With crags deep-fretted by the plunging rills, 

Whose voice well-freighted with wise speech is heard, 

Shall take your order in the League, the third. 

Next, Senecas, who in the Wild-wood dwell, 

And know each danger of the chase full well, 

Superior Hunters, for your noble worth 

In our great compact you shall stand the fourth. 

And Wise Cayugas of the Open Field, 

Whose grounds to culture give uncommon yield, 

Well Housed, among us, you the fifth shall stand 

In serried order with the common band: 

To feebler people,"^ who for aid may call, 

We give the friendship and the strength of all. 

And thus, united, we shall honored be, 

While all the borders of the land are free. 

Rise, Braves ! and arm you in united might, 

And meet the foeman in the deadly fight, 

Thus the Great Spirit on your League will smile, 

And give you wisdom to meet every wile ; 
29 



HIAWATHA. 

But scorn this counsel, and his awful frown 
Shall blight each village and the sorrow crown. 
While you, forgotten by our ancient race, 
Shall fall unpitied from your honored place, 
Enslaved and ruined by the ruthless foe, 
Who now stands ready for the fatal blow. 

The Confirmation. 

Thus, Hiawatha : and each burning word 
With deathless ardor the great Council stirred ; 
And. with the tumult of prolonged applause, 
The tribes pledged union for the common cause ; 
In days that followed the invader knew 
What signal prowess from that compact grew. 

The Translation, 

His mission ended to the sun-bright earth, 
The Seer reminds them of his wondrous birth, 
And, though the people his great presence prize. 
Prepares to journey towards the distant skies. 
30 



HIAWATHA. 

Again he bids them with united voice, 
Maintain the compact of their willing choice. 
Much weighty counsel with his blessing gave, 
With special caution to each eager brave ; 
Then, viewing sadly the Assembly o'er, 
Walked down in silence to the sandy shore, 
Assumed meet posture in the charmed canoe. 
Which still the magic of the Master knew, 
Laid on the gunwale his thin, shrunken hand. 
And slowly parted from the crowded strand. 
First, moving lightly o'er the shining mere. 
Urged by the power of the mighty Seer, 
The bark went onward for a little way, 
And passed the entrance of the golden bay; 
Then rose majestic on the evening air, — 
Slow sailing upward to those regions fair 
That ope their portals to the setting sun. 
With regal splendor when his course is run, — 
While sweetest music filled each savage ear. 
And swelled in peans such as angels hear, 
31 



HIAWATHA. 

Thus, Hiawatha neared the happy coast. 
Of bright Owayne and his winged host ; 
When forth to meet him went a shining band 
That led the Prophet to the Blessed Land. 

Such is the story that a simple race 
Oft told in wigwams with untutored grace ; 
Hence came the compact and far-reaching law 
That bound the peoples of the Iroquois, 
And when long ages had their cycle run, 
The Great Five Nations left allied as One. 



32 



NOTES. 

1, Page i6. Hiawatha's mother, a descendant of the daughter of the Moon, 
was susceptible to the influence of the West Wind, which became the 
father of Hiawatha, or " Manabozho." In the legend, now paraphrased 
at a disadvantage, the wife of Hiawatha disappears without mention, 
evidently not dying young. 

2, Page 20. Tioga Lake is now called " Cross Lake." The Indian name 
was Te-ungk-too. It is reached by the Seneca River. 

3, Page 24. So-ha-ri's rift is the passage through which the waters of the 
Onondaga Lake flow into the Seneca River, on its way to Lake Ontario. 

4, Page 25. It is the unanimous opinion that the League of the Iroquois 
was formed on the bank of the Onondaga. 

5, Page 27. The Eagle's feather is the sign of these banded tribes. I give 
the word Iroquois an arbitrary pronunciation. 

6, Page 28. The characteristics of each of the five tribes are given in ac- 
cordance with the best authorities. The famous Brant, whose Indian 
name was Thayenderegea, signifying a Bundle of Sticks, or Strength, 
was one of the most famous Chiefs of the Confederacy. The well known 
Redjacket was his Son. 

7, Page 29. A few lesser tribes that came under the patronage of the 
League are sometimes known as a Sixth Nation. A remnant of the On- 
ondagas still remain in New York State, near Syracuse. 



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